William bought a new belt at the store when they were having a $50\%$ off sale. If the regular price of the belt was $$39$, how much did William pay with the discount?
Explanation: First, find the amount of the discount by multiplying the original price of the of the item by the discount. $$39$ $\times$ $50\%$ $=$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $50\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{50}{100}$ which is also equal to $50 \div 100$ $50 \div 100 = 0.50$ Multiply the discount you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of money saved. $0.50$ $\times$ $$39$ $ = $ $$19.50$ Subtract the discount you just found from the original price to get the final price William paid. $$39$ $-$ $$19.50$ $ = $ $$19.50$ William paid $$19.50$ for the belt.